Tōboe
by The Eternal Scribe
Summary: Fate sometimes leads people to unsatisfactory results, but they eventually learn to move on and live life to the fullest. I didn't have much of a choice in my destiny, much less if I even stayed dead, but I was pretty sure that when one is born into an anime world they're supposed to know everything that is going on. I guess I was the exception. OC Self-insert.


**AN: ***Hides* Yeah this is another self-insert, sorry about that. But I realized that there aren't very many ones that center around the Inuzuka so I couldn't resist. This does _not_ mean I am going to stop focusing on my KHR insert *serious face*. I'm just writing down another story idea that has been in my head for a while.

This character is a male, for some reason I can't write female characters very well *shrugs*. As for pairings if you want it I'll write it, be warned that I mostly write my male characters with other males so yeah… if you don't catch my drift, _if this does have a pairing then it will be slash_. Sorry to those that don't like it, but it won't be a big part of the story and will more than likely start later on since they are only kids *sweat drops*.

**Summary: **Fate sometimes leads people to unsatisfactory results, but they eventually learn to move on and live life to the fullest. I didn't have much of a choice in my destiny, much less if I even stayed dead, but I was pretty sure that when one is born into an anime world they're supposed to know everything that is going on. I guess I was the exception. OC Self-insert.

**Warnings: **OC self-insert, some violence, basically anything that has to do with ninjas.

**For part of the story you will see the '…'s' in the middle of sentences, that is only replacing the words that he cannot understand until he can fully understand the language. This will only happen in part of this chapter so no worries, it won't be a constant.**

**{** **Tōboe}**

Life to me was always the same and so very, _very_ dull. Get up, deal with aunt, eat, work, go home, eat, deal with aunt again, and sleep. Day after day I repeated the same thing, never changing. Obviously like any normal person I kicked and screamed my curses at everything, wishing that fate would just go stuff it where the sun doesn't shine. A five year old should not have to deal with his aunt's hatred because his parents ran off leaving a _surprise _on her doorstep. And a sixteen year old should not have to go through the hardship of keeping two jobs, passing high school _and_ try to get his aunt to move off the couch and get her own soda for once.

As the years passed and I matured I reluctantly accepted that my life was bad. Fate was kind to some but cruel to most, and I just happened to be one of the many who were less then fortunate. But I knew that I could have gotten worse, much worse. I could have had no guardian at all and was stranded on the streets starving to death.

So I accepted the fact that my own aunt would never acknowledge my existence, and didn't dare to think about starting college, since it too was way out of my league. I continued to juggle my two jobs, keep the house running, and my aunt happy. It was simply what fate had planned for me, and obviously it wasn't going to get any better.

I never hated fate more though, when I found myself mugged and shot in the back of the head. To be honest I don't remember much through all the chaos, only a guy bumping into me and the explosion of a gun going off.

The next thing I knew I was getting pulled and twisted through a suffocating tunnel, my heart threatening to leap out of its chest, I loved rollercoasters but this one I could do without. Before I knew it I was sucking in freezing air that felt like needles and blinded by a burning and unforgiving light. My eyes could only make out white blurs swarming around me as I was passed around and wiped down by harsh hands. They spoke in jumbled words that I couldn't understand and when I tried to voice my discomfort it came in a harsh shrill wail that had only come out of my mouth when I had been very young.

It didn't take me very long to figure out I was a baby, it was obvious after you are repeatedly changed and force fed a liquid that tasted like an odd mixture between milk and honey. Truthfully though that didn't help anything, because once I did figure it out I went through the whole what-the-hell-am-I-doing-as-a-baby faze.

And I most certainly wasn't a very quiet baby.

Perhaps it was the shock of realizing, I'm dead but not really, or the idea of being a baby once again, but I just couldn't stop crying. Yes, there were times when I could finally rest my lungs, but I would start up once again when I needed something. I felt bad for whoever was caring for me, since I still couldn't see anything past a blur I couldn't tell who it was, but they had long brown hair so I could only assume it was a female.

_That _was quickly tossed out the window when they talked, because a female most definitely did not have a deep baritone voice. Not that I could understand a word that he said, I was unfamiliar with the language, and only half listened as he cooed and spoke gibberish to me.

As the days, or perhaps weeks, passed I was finally able to turn my head and survey my surroundings. Though my eyesight was still terrible I could make out the colors and general shapes of what was around me. It didn't look like an everyday baby room, the walls were painted a deep green color and various stuff animals were placed in an orderly line upon a dresser.

Wherever I was, it was better than I was used to, the room didn't smell of mold and my bed didn't feel like I was only lying on the springs. So I was rather content.

The man though, was something else entirely. After I had finally gained control of my crying I realized that he spent as much time as possible with me, which I was so very unused to.

My aunt hated me, thus it was out of the question that she dare say hug me or even look my direction without spewing out hateful comments. So when I found myself carried around almost everywhere and smelling lilacs from his long hair as he cuddled me into his chest, I was very uncomfortable. I appreciated the gestures, but I grew up depending on myself and not expecting anything back and found myself squirming in his hold.

I think he noticed it too, but instead of lessening the contact he seemed to amplify it, much to my displeasure. But I could respect him for his determination.

As more time passed, my eyesight grew increasingly better until I was finally able to make sense of what was what, and I got a good look at my caretaker.

I was rather awed at what I saw.

His face was angular but I could tell that it was softer looking then most males I had met, his eyes were narrowed slightly and a shade of brown that spoke volumes of kindness. Brown locks fell to either side of his face and when let loose fell to his lower back, the most eye catching feature though was the two red triangles decorating each of his cheeks.

That instantly made my mind recall something I had watched once when I was a teenager, but I discarded it as soon as it came, it wasn't possible.

I was also though, able to understand the more common words that came from his mouth, _Tōboe _was one of the most common words said when he called to get my attention so I assumed that it was my new name. Other words such as _Konohagakure _and _Inuzuka _were repeated, and I couldn't help but connect them once again to the anime I had watched when I was a teenager.

The anime Naruto wasn't unfamiliar to me, but I had watched it so many years ago that I could only remember the basics of the plot and the characters that made the biggest impression on me.

It wasn't possible though, to be sent to an anime, and I quickly deducted that my mind had finally snapped and I was currently living in a fabricated illusion that I had made up to get away from my hell hole of a life. But I found myself hesitating, it certainly _felt_ real, I could feel hunger, I could ball my hands up and feel the skin of my hands. So I couldn't help but wonder, was it reality or my minds idea of sadistic humor?

If it was real though, that meant Naruto Uzumaki number one unpredictable ninja was real and I had been forced into another one of fates attempts to make my life difficult.

Back in my, maybe or maybe not past life, I was always busy as an adult. But when I was in high school, my only way of getting away from my life, I would sit in the library and watch anime on the computer. Naruto was just one of the many anime that I watched, I never did get to read the manga, I was aware that the two weren't that different.

But the chances of getting thrown into an anime were as probable as someone getting reborn as a baby and remembering everything in their past life.

So did that mean I was in the Naruto-universe?

Internally I chuckled at the thought, what were the odds that some random male was _reborn _in a universe that killed for a living.

Anyway, since I really couldn't do anything even if I was born in the anime or manga, all I could do was sit back and just _wait._ It wasn't like I was someone special, and even if I was why would that make it okay to start messing everything up? I wasn't about to do that.

And I did wait, as the weeks and months passed I allowed myself to function as a normal baby. That meant I needed to be changed, fed and cuddled. I reluctantly allowed the latter, but I never fully relaxed in the man's hold.

For a while I had thought that everything would be fine. Yes I was in a ninja filled universe, and yes my caretaker had a painfully familiar marking on his face, but that didn't mean I had to be on constant alert. I could only hope that some ninja assassin wasn't hired to kill me, because I obviously would end up dying and I didn't feel like doing that again.

Unfortunately the Naruto-universe just so happened to be one of the most dangerous in the anime universes, and I was stuck in it.

Perhaps I could be a shinobi, though that would be extremely dangerous, it was obvious that I was born into an important clan so I probably didn't have much of a choice.

I had noticed though as the time passed, that I had a keen sense of smell. It was odd at first, I could smell my caretakers scent before he actually got into the room, and I soon was familiarized with the wet humid scent in the air when it was about to rain.

I also noticed that I had an odd sort of warmth that was coursing through my body, it felt like a second skin almost, but I could feel as it ran through my body like it was alive. At first I had been confused as to what it was, but then I soon realized it was most likely the chakra that everyone in this universe had. It was on odd feeling and if I concentrated hard enough I could almost feel it pulsing within me, almost like another heartbeat.

It was most likely the reason why I had gained enough strength in my legs to be able to walk around at the age of eight months old and could finally potty train myself.

It was when I was around five that we finally got some visitors.

From my room I could hear their slightly muffled voices, and though I could understand the gist of the language I could only comprehend about half of what they were saying.

"Yo Kegawa sorry….Kiba is a lot trouble."

They both chuckled when a childish voice gave an irritated shout in reply.

The last name caught my attention, I knew that Kegawa was my caretaker, but Kiba made a bell go off in my head.

I turned my head as their footsteps started to get closer, the toy I had been half-heartedly playing with was set down and I focused my attention on the door as it opened.

Kegawa sent a smile my direction and motioned toward a woman and her child. "Tōboe... Kiba."

I only nodded in reply.

The woman was rather pretty, but she was more on the wild side of it, her hair was similar to Kegawa's though it was shorter and much messier. She had the same markings as him on her cheeks, but her eyes were also framed by red giving her an almost exotic look. She also had the distinct smell of forest on her.

She sent me a large grin. "So this is Tōboe… just like you."

"Yes…our mother's eyes though." Kegawa replied walking toward my direction.

I allowed myself to be picked up and carried toward her, eyeing the small boy that was standing beside her with a small white dog. For some reason he looked familiar.

"Yo Tōboe…Aunt Tsume!" She grinned.

I jumped at her loud voice but gave her a silent nod.

She frowned momentarily before giving my hair a light tug. I winced and rubbed at the sore part, shooting her an irritated look. I didn't completely know the language so I tried to speak and initiate a conversation as little as possible, that and I really wasn't much of a talker.

She gave me a feral smile. "He's got Inuzuka blood alright. Besides…markings, and that glare… still girly though."

Kegawa chuckled in reply. "He'll grow into it."

I turned my head away glaring at the wall, it wasn't that was extremely girly I just inherited more of Kegawa's looks and it made me less masculine looking.

"Mom I...meet him!" The boy growled tugging at her pants.

Tsume hit him lightly on the head. "Patience Kiba!"

"It's okay Tsume," Kegawa soothed placing me down "…be good friends."

I took minute to steady my legs. Even if I was five I still had a little trouble with walking. I always ended up miscalculating my step because I was used to having longer legs and usually ended up making best friends with the floor.

"Yo! My name is Kiba…Partner Akamaru!" The dog gave a bark from his head in greeting.

I glanced at the small boy hesitantly. He looked to be my age and had the red triangles on his cheeks. A large grin was on his face, and I could smell dirt and oddly enough puppy breath, but it was obvious that he was related to Tsume.

"Tōboe." I replied quietly, giving him a small nod.

I flinched when the dog barked a few times in my direction.

Kiba cocked his head after a moment, eyeing me critically. "Do you have your partner yet?"

I shook my head, I didn't really know what he was talking about, but since it was the Inuzuka I could only assume he was talking about their dog partners.

"When…he getting one?" Kiba asked turning toward Kegawa.

Kegawa gave him a soft smile. "The next litter that is going to be available."

Kiba grinned in reply his dog barking excitedly. "…Kind?"

"…and part wolf."

Tsume snapped her head toward Kagewa watching him curiously. "Part wolf?...sure about that? They're lots of trouble."

Kegawa nodded. "…has the same look as mother did…no doubt he will do fine."

I gripped at the bottom of my shirt nervously, I wasn't good around dogs, and now that it was clear I would be getting one of my own I was truthfully frightened.

"If you say so...lots of training?" Tsume asked.

I closed my eyes when he patted my head, feeling slightly better. "Yes…soon I will help him unlock his chakra."

I paused and titled my head up, giving Kegawa a curious look. "Really?"

He raised an eyebrow nodding his head.

Huh. I didn't know when children started with their chakra exercises, then again I didn't really know much, but it made sense it just seemed a little young to me. I guess since I was in a rather prominent clan they would want to start early, but the way he was putting it I had to unlock it, so I didn't really know how well I was going to do with that.

"…met Kuromaru?" Tsume questioned.

Kegawa rubbed the back of his head nervously. "...kind of forgot…plus I don't know if he will accept him or not."

Tsume glared hitting him lightly on the head. "Of course he…! Tōboe's an Inuzuka after all!"

Kegawa nodded, looking sheepish. "Just nervous…"

She snorted. "Nothing to be nervous about! Come on! I'll personally bring him!"

I gave a small yelp when my arm was suddenly grabbed by Tsume's hands not expecting the sudden movement.

"Heh." Tsume snickered giving me a teasing glance. "You're awful small aren't you?"

I shook my head, no, I was just a child so it made sense I was on the smaller side.

"Whatever you say."

I gripped lightly on her hand as she made her way through the house and outside, her son and Kegawa following after. I started to sweat lightly when I heard barking and the distinct smell of dogs reached my nose, my fists tightening.

If Tsume noticed she didn't say a thing, continuing to hum cheerfully as she walked through the compound. I had been outside a few times so I was familiar with the area. Something about being outside in the forest was able to calm my nerves somewhat.

The compound was made up of various houses that surrounded a larger house where the main family lived. Some of the houses had mini fences attached to them where their dogs could go in and out whenever they wanted.

We lived right beside Tsume's house which meant we were part of the main family, I wasn't quite sure how we were but Tsume and Kegawa seemed pretty close.

"Here we are." Tsume announced.

I turned my head and paled when I saw a large wolf-like dog with an eye patch sitting in front of us.

Tsume let go of my hand and pushed me forward giving a reassuring smile. "Tōboe this is Kuromaru my partner and the alpha of the pack."

It took one glance before I was shaking uncontrollably and I fell to the ground in a thump, my legs too weak to hold me up. Back in my past life I had a very bad experience with a dog, and though I had gotten slightly better with them I still couldn't control myself when I got within ten feet of them.

I could practically see him towering over me, his golden eyes glaring menacingly at my small form, sharp teeth as sharp as knives ready to puncture my skin. The large dog moved and I closed my eyes, instinctually covering my arms over my face.

I could already feel the pain of my skin being torn, of being so utterly helpless as I was scarred beyond recognition.

A cold wet nose nudging my arm made me flinch violently.

"It's okay pup…no need to be scared." A deep voice rumbled.

I paused, my breath hitching. Did the dog just speak?

I moved my arm down slightly, slitting my eye open to look at the wolf.

The dog's mouth moved as he spoke. "That's right little one, I won't harm you."

I widened my eyes in shock. The. Dog. Just. Spoke.

A chuckle rumbled from the canine and I flinched once again as he sat down. Even sitting down he was larger than me by a good distance, his one ear flicked once before he turned toward Tsume.

"…getting partner?"

Tsume looked concerned. "In a few months. Kegawa…he so scared?" She asked turning toward him.

"…no clue. Inuzuka aren't supposed …scared of dogs." I heard the crunching of gravel as he neared my still frozen body.

I relaxed slightly when his hand rested on my head."Tōboe…okay?"

I nodded hesitantly, not having enough faith in my legs to stand.

"Kuromaru what do you think?" Tsume asked her partner.

The wolf gave her a reassuring look. "…get him a partner soon as possible. That may help him...his fear."

I allowed myself to get picked up, burying my head into Kegawa's shoulder. That was so very embarrassing. I didn't stay around dogs in my past life because of that exact reaction. It wasn't something I could control, and my mind ended up making some ridiculous illusion of the dog attacking me. It happened in my past life and it looked like it decided to follow me to this one also.

"We still have time until the puppies are ready, until then start practicing with his chakra." Tsume ordered motioning Kiba to follow her as she headed into town.

"I'll make sure to do that." Kegawa replied bowing slightly in her direction.

"Don't worry Tōboe," He soothed rubbing my back "you'll get over it soon."

I remained silent. I highly doubted I would get over my fear soon. One doesn't just get over something that has haunted them for years, even if Kegawa didn't know about it I still was certain it would take a lot longer then we both realized.

I could only hope for the best.

**{Tōboe}**

Chakra was the result of energy produced when physical and spiritual energies are mixed together in the body, but the key wasn't the ability to **have **Chakra, but instead to control it. Everyone in this universe has chakra but only ones with enough skill, such as ninjas, can correctly manipulate it to its fullest extent. That means that I could use it, but not effectively control it, which resulted in me running out of Chakra faster.

In regards to Inuzuka, while they did have their fair share of Ninjutsu attacks they focused more on the Taijutsu side of attacks and that meant I needed stamina. Unlike Ninjutsu attacks Taijutsu didn't need hand signals or Chakra, though there was some that did, so only the stamina needed for whatever move I was currently executing was used.

So it was obvious that the first thing that Kegawa did was put four five pound weights that were strapped onto each of my limbs and send me running around the compound until I couldn't move anymore. It was harsh yes, but necessary and it continued for weeks with small pauses in the middle so I wouldn't strain my muscles. The first few weeks I was sore, tired and wanted very much too just stop and give up, but one thing made me do otherwise.

My training partner, Kiba Inuzuka.

He was a constant in my life. Ever since we had first met it was like we had just clicked. Which was odd in its own right, he was loud, brash and temperamental while I was soft spoken, calm and scared of anything to do with dogs. We were a pair of odd friends that were completely different yet got along great.

Akamaru though made things slightly difficult, because of my fear of dogs I ended up either purposely putting some distance between us or panicking. But it wasn't as bad as it was when I had met Kuromaru, small dogs were not a dangerous looking to me, and I was able to at least keep my ground around him without my legs getting extremely weak or wanting to run away.

But I was rather proud that I stopped flinching when he barked.

I also found out the reason why I couldn't understand Akamaru. Inuzuka get the ability a_fter _they get their partner, Kegawa explained that I would need to bond with my partner on a spiritual level and then I would get the more dog qualities. Yes, before the Inuzuka have a partner they have superior senses, such as smell and hearing, but it's once they are actually bonded with their partner that they become true Inuzuka. Not that I wasn't an Inuzuka, but I would get the well-known ability to talk to my partner and thus work well with him.

I wasn't too sure on how I was going to work well with a dog of all things, seeing that I had just gotten use to Akamaru and it had been two months. But I guessed if I was able to get use to Akamaru I could get use to my partner also.

While Inuzuka were good at Taijutsu they were great at Collaboration Techniques. Collaboration Techniques were all about the team work between two partners, such as an Inuzuka and their dog partner. Since I didn't have my partner yet I wasn't able to join in with that training, but it didn't stop Kegawa from teaching me other attacks.

I was relatively good at Taijutsu. My small body made it harder for me to get to certain places and my limbs were still that of a child's _and _weighed down by the weights. But like all Inuzuka I was fast on my feet and had a sensitive noise, which made it easier for me to smell when someone was sneaking up on me or get away if I needed. It didn't mean I was strong enough to go against even Kiba and win, he had his partner he could work with and was a higher level then I was, but I could tell I was growing so I wasn't necessarily affected by my lack of power.

And to think we hadn't even started on our chakra exercises yet.

Finally though after around two months passed Kegawa came home with an extra being, the one that I had been dreading to meet since I had realized I was in the Inuzuka clan.

**{Tōboe}**

**AN: **Does anyone have any idea what I should call Tōboe's partner? The known Inuzuka dogs are named after a color and have 'maru' at the end of it. I'm planning on his partner being white or maybe a reddish-brown, I thought that Yukimaru (because snow is white and all) would be good, but is that even a name?

**Tōboe** means howl, I know it isn't a _body part_ of a dog, but it is something a dog does so I hope it's acceptable. All the other names are taken and I didn't want my self-insert to be named 'tail' or something that would just be odd.

**Kegawa** is an OC of mine that I added, he is of the Inuzuka clan and he does have a relatively important part in the story since he is Tōboe's father. His name quiet literally means fur, at least that's what Google translate told me.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and reviews are appreciated!


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